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Money Mastery

It’s commonly believed that money is the root of all evil. However if you pay close attention to the people who believe that money is the source of all evil you will quickly discover that they have a bad relationship with money: aka, “broke as hell.”

I plead guilty of having this mindset. At one point when I was extremely broke I came to a delusional conclusion that if money were a person, he/she must be extremely mad at me. I thought that money discriminated people. Besides, my high school Champlain had programmed me to believe that money is evil, and those who love it are greedy “mother-funnels” who won’t go to heaven when they die. Yet I wanted to go to heaven, so I resented money. But tell you what? Experience has taught me that living a comfortable life is being in heaven here on earth.

So, what then is the root of all evil? In my opinion it is fear. It is fear that inspires jealousy—because one is afraid that there isn’t enough goodness to go around. So this fear triggers jealousy. If one focuses on this jealousy for an extended period of time envy is eventually manufactured. If you’ve ever dealt with an envious person you know how toxic and dangerous they can be. These people are the advocates of witchcraft, gossip, backstabbing others, and crime—to mention but a few.

“Surrounded by the flames of jealousy, the jealous one winds up, like the scorpion, turning the poisoned sting against himself.”– Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Fear is what inspires a woman to throw her kid in the trash because she is afraid that she won’t be able to take care of it, or herself.

Fear can inspire a parent to disregard or abuse their child because he/she is afraid that the child might grow up to be better than them. Strange, right? Tell me about fear!!

Fear can inspire a woman to mistreat her step-kids because she is so afraid of dealing with her own insecurities. So, this triggers anger that she passes on to the innocent step-kids, in form of rage or abuse.

Fear is what promotes cut-throat competitions where people do everything they can to step on each other’s toes, damage repetitions, wrongfully accuse others, and do whatever else they can to block one from succeeding.

Fear is what promotes addictions, because the user is so afraid of dealing with the torment in their mind and/or their experience in general. Consequently, they escape their reality because they are afraid that they don’t have what it takes to deal with it—at least for the most part.

Fear is what promotes wars. Societies and countries engage in life-time wars because they are afraid of losing their power to whomever they believe is their enemy.

Fear is the foundation of stress, anxiety and all other emotional draining states, because one is either afraid of the future repeating itself or they are afraid that the future will be worse than the present.

Fear promotes lies, deceit, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, short term gratification—plus other related self-degrading mental states, because one is afraid that they are not good enough.

Fear limits or retards self-expression because one is afraid of being judged.

Note that fear is primarily intended to warn us of the possible dangers in our environments—and then we get to choose between fleeing or fighting. And once an action is chosen, there’s no need to continue producing the fear-manufacturing hormones.

As a therapist, I often ask my clients to create visual representations of their fears. It is very interesting to see that each of them has unique images of their fears—even in situations where two people are afraid of the same thing. Therefore, it is evident the fear is a self-created state, triggered by the associations, definitions, relationships, attachments and perceptions that we assign to the events in our lives. Without associations, definitions, relationships, attachments and perceptions, fear is limited. Nothing is interpreted. Everything just is. Therefore, in order to release our fears we have to start by learning how to detach or resist defining events, things or situations.

Although without benefits, fear indeed is the root of all evil. The questions then are; what are your fears? What inner and outer negative behaviors have been triggered by these fears? What are you doing about your fears? How do you plan to let them go?

Most people believe that money is the source of all evil. However, when you look closely you realize that the lack of money is the devil itself. I have never heard of a millionaire breaking a bank, or someone like Oprah conning someone else for money. Can you imagine finding Bill Gates in jail for snatching someone’s purse because he was starving, or Warren Buffet, crying in court for breaking into someone house? Imagine all you can but I know that you will not experience the preceding in your life time.

The lack of money is what sends many people into hospitals, dealing with all sorts of neurologically engineered illnesses manufactured by worrying about money. I actually once experienced a panic attack because I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills. It’s the lack of money that suffocates our vision, weakens our enthusiasm and chokes our relationships.

With that said, it is apparent that understanding your money psychology is important in helping you to shift from barely surviving to living life on your terms. It is vital to develop and maintain a healthy relationship with money.

In this article, I share 3 mental and emotional associations that hinder us from identifying ways to earn more money. Note that these associations are like bad marriages that can pollute your good intentions of living a wealthier life. I urge you to take time as you analyze these associations and answer the related questions so that you can resolve them and then start developing a healthier relationship with money.

“Negative associations with money are like bad marriages that can strangle your good intentions of living a wealthier life.”

Beliefs:

(a) What negative beliefs do you have about money? Write them down.

Note that whatever you believe becomes your reality. If you believe that money is the source of all evil, you are impliedly negating money. If you believe that money is a beautiful thing to have you will do whatever it takes to have more of it. Most importantly, your unconscious mind, where the magic brews, will support you into earning more money because you created a positive belief about it.

(b) After writing down all these beliefs, know that they are all lies, illusions that do not exist. They are temporary pretences that your mind holds onto and you can easily let them go. With that in mind, create a new list with the opposite beliefs to the negative ones you have. Read the new list at least 3 times daily to reinforce these new beliefs into your unconscious mind.

“Negative beliefs about money are temporary pretences that your mind holds onto and you can easily let them go.”

Experiences:

What negative experiences have you had that have convinced you that having money is painful? For instance, have you lent someone money and they never paid you back? Have you been backstabbed, disappointed, lied to or wrongfully punished because of money?

(a) Take time to think about all these experiences.

(b) Realize that by thinking about these experiences, you are living in the past. You are not enjoying the magic in the present moment. You are missing out. Note that these experiences are long gone and you can nullify them in your mind. Know that you have the power to speak to your mind and tell it to let go of this poison. Do not underestimate the power you have over your thoughts. Don’t let your thoughts rule you, rule them. Command them to behave themselves. Tell yourself the truth that you are more than these experiences. Remember that all experience is intended to help us learn and grow into more informed beings, and not to hold us back from progressing in life.

“Remember that all experience is intended to help us learn and grow into more informed beings, and not to hold us back from progressing in life.”

Perceptions:

Perceptions are projections of our inner world. Whatever you perceive is a reflection of how you have internally identified with the perceived. If your projections about money are filled with anger, sadness, struggle, scarcity or rage, that’s exactly how you will perceive money.

(a) Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and imagine that money is your partner. How is he/she dressed? What type of conversations do you have? Do you see yourself arguing or laughing? What are you telling this money-image? Is it good or bad? How do you feel about your relationship? Do you feel like you love each other? After you are done, open your eyes and think through your visualized perception of money, plus your relationship with it.

(b) Whatever money-image and relationship that your mind revealed, go through the exercise again but this time creating a more positive image and relationship. Image that money as your partner is well groomed, strong and healthy. Imagine that you are walking down the street holding hands, laughing, and having a good time. Imagine telling each other repeatedly that you love each other very much. Generate the related positive emotions. Go through this exercise every day until you start believing that you and money are good together. Trust your mind to create similar experiences in your reality.

Remember that you are the master of your destiny. It’s up to you to realize that you are more than your experiences; you are more than the negative money associations plus all the other things that weigh you down: and that money is nothing more than the relationship you have with yourself.

“When all is said and done we realize that all along we had both keys to our life’s prisons and freedom.”

Check out this video to access a few exercises that will help resolve negative associations you may have with money.

This week, we are going to access our memories to identify all the times we have connected to money through jobs, gigs, tips we’ve received, gifts and other winnings. You will be able to access memories about all the opportunities you’ve had in the past that connected you to money. This session will make it easier for you to believe that you can actually attract money. Continue reading →

The Money Mondays Mastermind is for a limited number of people who are willing and open-minded enough to join the group’s goal of each, manifesting $1 million by the end of next year. During our sessions, we shall employ several powerful mind, and spiritual cleansing techniques to deal with, and resolve inner-world conflicts and other blockages that could get in the way of achieving that goal. For details, please complete the form at http://www.tapthegood.com/contact/ or send an email at tapthegood@gmail.com

Budgeting is crucial to efficient and effective financial management. When we don’t budget, we end up either squandering money or missing out on paying for important and/or time sensitive transactions.

Note that the lack of budgeting is the very reason why the poor remain poor–because they don’t take time to think about what they want and research on how much it will cost.

The question is, how will you know what to spend your money on if you don’t budget? Remember that there is more to living than paying bills. Therefore, take control of your finances and establish budgeting as a mandatory act.

Below are 7 budgeting mistakes to avoid.

Mistake 1:

When you don’t stick to your savings plan, or when you don’t have a savings plan. In order to achieve financial freedom putting away money as savings to either invest or fall back on in hard times, should be part of the game plan. If you don’t budget for your savings, you are basically rendering yourself vulnerable for financial disaster.

Mistake 2:

When you don’t update your budget plan:

It’s important to update your spending plan so that you are aware of what’s going on periodically. Get a note book, or download an app on your phone (www.everyDollar.com is a good one)) and use these tools to periodically update your budget.

Mistake 3:

When you underestimate or overestimate how much you spend: To avoid this mistake evaluate your previous month’s expenses to use as reference for your spending patterns.

Mistake 4:

When you don’t have a budget: When you don’t have a budget how will you know much to save or what to spend on?

Mistake 5:

When you don’t communicate with your spouse or people in your household about your budget standards: This applies if you have a family. You need to let your spouse know about your budgeting plans so that they spend within its limits.

Mistake 6:

When you only budget once in a while: You have to be consistent with your budget plans. It is an ongoing process, and the good news is that it gets easier with time.

Mistake 7:

Lack of budgeting before your payday: Getting money before you create a spending plan can be dangerous. Note that by the time you create the plan, half the money will be gone on expenses that can not wait for you to decide whether you need a budget or not.

Note that budgeting is a healthy financial habit that you should embrace. Doing it right will make all the difference, and having a success infused mindset is the starting point.

Don’t use money you don’t have: such as credit cards-especially in case of emergencies.

Take time to see what you mostly spend on and determine if you are a compulsive shopper or actually take time to budget.

If you don’t have a plan then you won’t know where you are going. Remember that a plan is like a GPS that leads your way. Note that although we have to be flexible with the planning and execution of our financial needs, it is better to have a plan on how we want to spend our money.

Do Not Buy What You Don’t Need.

Before you go shopping firstly make sure that you don’t already have what you are going to buy. Secondly, examine why you are buying that item in the first place. Are you buying that item to escape a reality, fill a need, and satisfy a want or simply because it is on sale? We are accustomed to buying things because they are on sale, and for the most part we don’t even need these things. Don’t let the “sales” syndrome entice you into buy what you don’t need.

Always save a percentage of your money—at least 10% of all the amount you earn.